If I could buy everything organic all the time it would be amazing!!! But lets face it, sometimes our budgets are just too tight, and buying everything organic may push the bar way over what we should be spending on groceries. To avoid this from happening, stick to the Dirty Dozen!
Have you heard about it? If you haven’t, let me tell you! Ever since I learned about the Dirty Dozen I can prioritize my organic purchases and finally give my wallet some breathing room!
The Dirty Dozen is a list of twelve fruits and vegetables, which contain higher amounts of pesticide residue when grown conventionally. Whenever your circumstances allow it, you can lower the amount of pesticides you consume daily by buying these specific foods organic.
I was shocked when I found out what food is the most contaminated in conventional farming. Ready for this? Apples! Yup, that’s right. It was a shock to me too, especially because I eat apples almost every day, and I put them in my juices and smoothies! The other foods that make up the Dirty Dozen are: strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, nectarines, cucumbers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and hot peppers. Two crops have recently been added to the list – they are kale (and collards), and summer squash.
Keep in mind that many of the fruits and vegetables listed above, are common ingredients for green smoothies and juices. So it’s really something to think about when buying these foods!
I also want to tell you about another list I came across when researching this subject on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website. It’s called, “The Clean Fifteen”. These are fruits and vegetables that contain the least amount of pesticide residues, therefore are not as crucial to buy organic. These include: sweet corn, onion, pineapple, avocado, cabbage, sweet peas, papaya, mango, asparagus, eggplant, kiwi, grapefruit, cantaloupe, sweet potato, and mushrooms.
To keep these lists handy, there is a cool phone app that you can download created by the EWG. It’s called, “Dirty Dozen” and it includes a shoppers guide so you can have easy access to this information when grocery shopping.
So there you go! Don’t be disappointed if you can’t buy organic because it’s too expensive. Remember, eating conventional fruits and vegetables is better than not eating them at all! Just keep this in mind, and when you can, buy organic!
Hope this information was useful to you. Have a great day! Love, Daniela.
Minimizing pesticide residue is an important step towards better health. We would love it if you could help us spread the word about the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 to your friends and family by sharing this on facebook or twitter using the links below. Plus, if you found this information useful leave us a comment below. We would love to hear from you!
